Search
Scripture Reading: S. S. 1:9-11, 15; 2:2, 14; 3:6-7a, 9, 11
Two books in the Bible are closely related: the Gospel of John, which tells us how to take the Lord Jesus as our life, and the Song of Songs, which deals with loving the Lord. Apparently, these two books have no relationship with one another, but in experience we have found that the real way to enjoy the Lord as our life is found in the Song of Songs. If we would pray over the eight chapters of this book in the spirit, we would see how to take the Lord as our life. It does not speak about taking the Lord as our Savior or our Redeemer but as our life.
In this book a seeking one is hungering and thirsting after the Lord. She loves the Lord, and she is seeking the Lord. Actually, this is just enjoying the Lord as life. This book is not about a work or an enterprise; it speaks of a walk that is always seeking after the Lord. It seems that the seeking one has nothing to do except to seek after the One whom she loves. There is nearly no work involved and nothing to do but to seek after such a wonderful person.
The Song of Songs is the unique book in the Bible showing us the proper way not only to love the Lord but also to enjoy Him as our life. We all know these verses: John 14:6, “I am... the life”; John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life”; John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly”; John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”; and 1 John 5:12, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” So many Christians know all these verses, but it is not a matter of knowledge; it is a matter of enjoying Christ as life. Many Christians know that Christ is life, but how many of them enjoy Him as life? The way to enjoy Christ as our life is revealed in this book, the Song of Songs.
What is found in the Song of Songs is also found in the Gospel of John in principle, but it is difficult to find unless you first see something in the Song of Songs. Apparently, the Song of Songs is merely a book on loving and seeking the Lord. But I can testify that no other book among the sixty-six books of the Bible has been so helpful to me in the matter of life as this book. I have spent more time in this short book than in any other book of the Old Testament. If we really desire to experience Christ as our life in a way of enjoyment, we cannot stay away from this book.
As I have mentioned previously, in the entire book of eight chapters, the Lord is mainly teaching the seeker a unique lesson. Here we have one who is seeking the Lord and who finds Him. After she finds Him, she has the appreciation and enjoyment. Whoever really seeks the Lord will find Him, because the Lord has promised this in Matthew 7:7. If we seek the Lord, surely we will find Him. He will never disappoint us. And the one who loves Jesus in this book is seeking Him in a wonderful way. “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! / ...Draw me; we will run after you.” Immediately, she finds the one whom she is seeking, and he brings her into his inner chambers. Then she has the appreciation. The seeking one says that her beloved is just like a bundle of myrrh and a cluster of henna flowers.
Chapter 2 then tells us of the enjoyment. He is not only the bundle of myrrh and the cluster of henna flowers but also the apple tree in the woods. How enjoyable it is to sit under His shadow for rest and to eat His fruit for satisfaction! This is real enjoyment. She sought the Lord, she found the Lord, she appreciated the Lord, and she really enjoyed the Lord. Hallelujah! He is satisfied, and we are satisfied! What else do we need? It seems that there is nothing left to say but, “Hallelujah!”
But suddenly the Lord is gone. She was in the banqueting house with such a rich enjoyment, but He was outside. What happened? This is the point of this book. If we are going to enjoy the Lord as life, we must see this discrepancy. The seeking one was enjoying the Lord in such a rich way in the banqueting house. She had the rest and the enjoyment. She was satisfied. But suddenly, while she was resting, He was leaping and skipping. What a discrepancy!
Song of Songs 2:8 is an important turning point in this book. Suppose you were the one in the banqueting house. Would not that be wonderful! Many of you who are in the church life have been brought to such a position. You have arrived in the banqueting house, and you have already discovered that the Lord is gone. You are still in the banqueting house, but His presence is gone. Perhaps two months ago He was with you, but now He is not. Perhaps last year He was with you in the banqueting house, but this year He is not. You would say, “What’s wrong? I am still so much for Him. I am still seeking Him, and I am still enjoying Him. But something is missing. He is still lovable, but there is something separating us. I don’t love the world. The world is through with me, and I am through with the world. If someone were to give me the world, I simply wouldn’t want it. I just love my Lord.”
I do believe that by the Lord’s mercy so many dear ones in the church life today would say these things. Yet something is missing. He is out, and you are still in. You can see Him, and He can see you, but it seems that there is still some distance between Him and you. I have been asked by so many concerning this one thing, but I have never answered, because I knew that the answer would be given when we covered the Song of Songs.
What is the problem? Before answering directly, we need to see something in the Gospel of John. John 11 records the case of a dead man. Jesus is life, but how could this dead man experience Jesus as life? John 11 shows us a real discrepancy between the lovers of Jesus and Himself, and this discrepancy is exactly the same as in the Song of Songs. Martha is the best representative. She represents you and me. Martha and her sister, Mary, along with Lazarus, their brother, really loved the Lord Jesus. I do not believe that you and I could love the Lord Jesus more than they did. Lazarus became very sick, and Martha and Mary sent a petition to the Lord Jesus for Him to come and help them. But it seems that the Lord did not have any human feeling. He was just like a piece of wood or stone. He heard their petition, but He did not go. He did nothing, and He said nothing. Many times the Lord will remain silent, and at those times His silence is more important than His utterance.
Then after a few days, the Lord decided to go. But Martha did not thank the Lord for His coming. She did not say, “O Lord, how marvelous that You have come! Thank You for Your presence.” Instead, she complained that the Lord did not come soon enough. “Lord, if You had been here earlier, my brother would not have died.” This means that she put the whole blame upon the Lord. They thought, “Now what is the use for Him to come? Lazarus is already dead.” At the time they wanted Him to come, He did not come. Now when they did not need Him anymore, He came. Then the Lord told her, “I am the resurrection. It is not a matter of time, whether it is too early or too late; it is a matter of Me. I am the resurrection. If I came five days ago or three days ago, it would be the same. Now that I have come a few days later, it is also the same. I am the resurrection, and your brother will rise again.”
Then Martha became the best expounder of the Bible, for she really knew the doctrine of resurrection. She said, “Yes, Lord, I know that he will be raised up at the last day. We know that doctrine already.” Then the Lord said nothing more to her, but Martha went to tell her sister that the Lord had called her. It was not, however, the Lord who had called her, but Martha.
Finally, the Lord came to the grave, and Martha voiced her opinion again. “Lord, he’s stinking by now. He’s been in the grave four days.” But do not laugh at Martha. Laugh at yourself. She represents all the believers who love the Lord. We do love the Lord, but like Martha, we are always the greatest hindrance to His being our life. This is because we have never been subdued. Our personality and character have never been dealt with. To take the Lord as our life, we must take His character and His personality as our personality. It is not enough simply to quote Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me...who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” We must repudiate our personality and take Him as our unique person. Then we will have no concepts or opinions, for our personality will be gone. He, as a living person, will be our life.
If Martha had really learned the lesson, she would not have asked the Lord to come in that way. She would have said, “Lord, we would like for You to come. But whether You would come or not, is up to You. Whether You would cause my brother to survive or not, is also up to You. Whether You would do anything, is up to You.” To say this is easy, but to learn this lesson and to be brought to this point takes years.
By reading through John 11, we see that Martha did absolutely nothing to help the Lord. Instead, she did everything to hinder and frustrate the Lord from being life to them. If we can see this, it will be easy for us to understand the experience that is recorded in the second chapter of the Song of Songs. The seeker in the Song of Songs is just like Martha. The Lord is training and disciplining the seeking one to forget about herself, her personality, and her will, and to take the Lord Himself as her person.
The Song of Songs mainly teaches us this one unique lesson. Strictly speaking, it is not a book of love. It is not a matter of learning the lesson of faith, patience, or how to become more powerful. For so many years, the Lord will train us in one thing: to put our personality aside and to take Him according to His intention, His way, and for His goal.
Many people love the Lord, but few of them really know how to take the Lord as life by forgetting their self and their personal character. And so many do not have any intention to learn this lesson. Just as the seeking one in the Song of Songs, they have no intention of responding to the Lord’s call.
Now we need to see a little more in these chapters. In all the above verses, the Lord Jesus appraised the seeking one in a certain way.
The first appraisal is in 1:9: “I compare you, my love, / To a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.” The mare here signifies our natural strength. She is so powerful, but natural and worldly. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had the strength that belongs to the world. Some are so strong and powerful, but in a natural and worldly way, like a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
Then in verse 15, the Lord speaks of the eyes of a dove. “Oh, you are beautiful, my love! / Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.” Now the seeking one is making some improvement. When she first sought the Lord, she was as strong as a mare. But now she has gradually learned to look upon the Lord with doves’ eyes.
After this, the Lord likens her to a lily. “As a lily among thorns, / So is my love among the daughters” (2:2). The Lord spoke of a lily in Matthew 6 as one who lives on this earth not trusting in his own strength but upon God’s mercy. At first she was as strong as a mare, naturally. However, now she no longer trusts in her natural strength, but she trusts in the Lord’s mercy. She is just a lily trusting the Lord for everything.
From a lily, the seeking one continues to improve to become a dove. “My dove, in the clefts of the rock, / In the covert of the precipice, / Let me see your countenance, / Let me hear your voice; / For your voice is sweet, / And your countenance is lovely” (S. S. 2:14). First of all she only had doves’ eyes, but now she is a dove. Which is more powerful, a mare or a dove? And which would you rather be? I believe that most of us would like to be a mare that is so powerful and full of strength. A dove is small and not so powerful. But to go on from a mare to a dove is a real improvement. I hope that in the local churches there will be many doves and not so many mares. I am afraid that there are too many mares in the churches. All the mares must be transformed into doves. In the Bible the dove is the sign of the Holy Spirit. When the Lord was baptized, the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. If we are really in the spirit and one with the Spirit, we will be like a dove. There will be the real improvement.
Between the dove and the next stage, there is a long period of time. I do not know how long a time it takes, but I do know that this period of time between Song of Songs 2:14 and 3:6 is not short. Here we see something wonderful: “Who is she who comes up from the wilderness / Like pillars of smoke, / Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, / With all the fragrant powders of the merchant? / There is Solomon’s bed; / ...King Solomon made himself a palanquin / Of the wood of Lebanon” (3:6-7a, 9).
What a change in the seeking one! Now she comes up from the wilderness, not as a mare, neither as a dove, but as a pillar of smoke. It is smoke, yet it is a pillar, something so solid. Who is this one perfumed with myrrh and frankincense and with all the fragrant powders of the merchant? The question was asked about her, but the answer is made concerning King Solomon. Who is this one? This is Solomon’s bed, a place of rest during the night. The seeking one has improved so much that now she has become the Lord’s rest. Who is this one? She is Solomon’s resting place, and she is Solomon’s palanquin. This is a carriage that is carried by men for traveling during the day. The bed is for resting at night, and the palanquin is for moving during the day. Who is this one? She is the resting place of Jesus and the moving carriage of Jesus!
This is really quite deep. It is far more than just the banqueting house. It is not the shade of the apple tree, but the bed of Solomon and the carriage of Solomon. Who is this one? She is just the resting place of Jesus, and she is the carriage of Jesus for His move on this earth. She has become the very expression of Jesus, and by this expression Jesus moves on the earth. During the night, she is His resting place, and during the day, she is His very expression for His move on the earth. Now she has really learned to take the Lord as her life. His personality is now her personality, and His expression is her expression.
“Go forth, O daughters of Zion, / And look at King Solomon with the crown / With which his mother crowned him / On the day of his espousals, / Yes, on the day of the gladness of his heart” (v. 11). Ultimately, she becomes the very crown of the Bridegroom. Later, we will consider the crown in greater detail.
